to the usual law of attraction, a stone in its descent from the air, into which it had been cast, would fall upon an individual, and that stone should be turned out of its course, that he might escape uninjured; there would be the exercise of a particular providence. Or, if in my walks I should be drawn by cries of distress, which according to the laws that regulate the transmission of sound would be inaudible at that distance, and should thence become the instrument of relief to a suffering being; God would have interposed in is behalf by a special providence. Such instances,-similar I mean in respect to their violation of the usual rules which govern cause and effect, but almost as various in kind as the exigencies to meet which they are brought into the course of things,-are, it is my belief, continually occurring. My faith results from my idea of the divine character, for such an attention to the wants of his creatures is a beautiful result of Infinite Benevolence. My confidence in the doctrine is confirmed by the language of prayer, for without this key supplication for temporal favors would be a mystery, the purpose of which I could not penetrate, to say nothing of the irreverence, to which I could not be reconciled, of asking for an interruption of invariable laws. My belief is strengthened by the words of scripture, and the teaching of Jesus Christ; and finally, it encounters no difficulty in any of the objections that are made to it, of which I will notice but two, the most plausible.

One of them supposes an incompatibility between this doctrine and the truth already intimated, that the universe is so bound together by mutual dependencies, that a suspension of the general law, however brief

or slight its immediate effect, would disturb the order of the whole creation; by multiplying these interferences, the disturbance would be increased, and the world be filled with discord. The reply is simply this; that if any other being than God check the motion of the least part of this vast system, disorder must be felt through all its extent. But the Power, which organized the creation, can, while it arrests one movement, cause all the others to go on in their usual course. Whatever is necessary to the force or harmony of the whole, is now supplied in an extraordinary in place of the common way, by the direct exercise of Omnipotence, to maintain the rest of the system in its order, while one part is changed. We need only to suppose the immediate agency of God; which is the very idea, that constitutes the reality of a particular providence. And though it may seem to us a perplexing and a mighty labor to maintain such a care of the universe, yet to Him who, in kindness to his creatures, has assumed it, labor and perplexity are unknown. To control the interests of a world, however complicated, is but to send forth the energy of his will by an act of love.

4. The other objection is answered by what I would urge as a fourth principle, to be regarded by us in forming our conceptions of the divine providence. We are not able to distinguish between its general and its particular operations, between its usual courses and its special interpositions. It is said that the doctrine of a particular providence is liable to great abuse, and that it may become the nurse of superstition, pride, and indolence. We remove the doctrine from all

such objections, by denying the competency of man to determine to which class of influences he shall ascribe events. They all come from God; this he knows; not a sparrow falls to the ground without our Father's permission; but whether they are the effects of established principles, or consequences that flow from their suspension; whether the sparrow falls, because the laws which regulate matter and motion bring it to the earth, or because in this instance they are counteracted, we do not, and cannot know.

It seems to me that this truth may be presented without limitation. We never can decide respecting the interposition of a particular providence, excepting where a miracle is wrought. One important difference, if it be not the essential distinction, between the act of a particular providence and a miracle, is, that the peculiar character of the one is discernible. We see that it is without the line of ordinary operations. We say that it is beyond the power of natural causes, or that it cannot be the effect of general laws,-by which we can only mean, that we never saw or heard of such effects produced by these causes, and we therefore ascribe them directly to the divine power; and this is a sound conclusion. But the events, which follow a particular providence, do not differ in their character from the occurrences with which we are familiar. The peculiarity consists not in their appearance or their nature, but in their origin; which is hidden from our view. God has given us no rules, by which we may judge of such cases; they lie without the compass of our faculties of discernment and judgment. The bible, though it teaches us to rely on the

special help of our heavenly Father, in the confidence that we shall receive it in the hour of need, does not instruct us how to determine that special aid has been afforded. Reason leaves us wholly in the dark; for reasoning here is of that most vicious kind, which attempts to make two propositions reciprocally prove each other; or according to the language of the schools, proceeds in a circle. For example, a building devoted to the purposes of amusement is consumed by the lightning. Here, says one, is a particular providence; and it shows us that Heaven abhors such places of transgression.-How do you know that this was a special judgment?-Because the place was bad. How do you know that it was bad?-Because it was visited by a special judgment.-But the same storm, during which this house was reduced to ashes, levelled in its progress another building, consecrated to the worship of God. Why was there not a particular providence here also?-Because the purposes of the place were holy.-Yet respecting the other edifice, you inferred its character from its destruction. If this is a safe ground of reasoning in the one case, it must be in the other. Now to estimate character by the dealings of providence, and now, when the result of this principle would offend our prepossessions, to evade the testimony of providence by recurring to our persuasion of character, is equally unsound and unjust.

We say, therefore, that besides a general superintendence of the Deity, by which his creation is preserved and blessed, he is pleased by special interpositions to assist or admonish his creatures; but that we are unable to perceive when these interpositions take place. God has left us in ignorance respecting the mode

Let us be con

of his providential dealings with us. tent in our ignorance. Nay, let us be more than content, for he has saved us from many temptations, by enveloping his ways in this obscurity.

5. Another truth which we should always keep in view, is, that the design and purpose of God's providence are beneficent. It was established for the good of the creation, and intended to promote the divine glory, by serving as a means of increasing the happiness and virtue of his offspring. This was its original design, and has ever been its tendency. Its general laws were instituted to secure this end, and its special acts have this object. However they may strike our senses, or disappoint our hopes, they are the fruits of infinite benevolence; bitter, perhaps to the taste, or unpleasant to the eye, but suited to enrich the soul with knowledge and excellence. Concerning the general purpose of the divine providence, we may entertain no doubt; we cannot doubt, if we believe that the God, by whom Jesus Christ was sent, is its author. But its particular effects often stagger our faith, and awaken in our bosoms a discontent, as inconsistent with filial piety, as it is fatal to happiness. Could we look through the connexions of things-could we for a moment, borrow an angel's vision, to take but one. survey of the scene about us, as it appears to them, whose eyes are not dimmed by the prejudice and ignorance which blind us, or to send but one glance into the future, to trace the consequences of a single event in the circles over which, as its influence descends, it spreads with a wider and wider operation— we might be convinced that the darkest hour is appointed in mercy, that the most mysterious and afflictive